Slideshow

IT Skills: Whats Hot and Whats Not

The latest software or business buy-in can only go so far if you dont have staff with the proper skills. So what are the IT abilities emerging on the edges of the enterprise?

Here are the desired IT skillsets along with areas losing significance, according to reports from hiring community Dice.

Java, Mobile and .NET Developers

Like the repetition in the famed Steve Ballmer keynote (and accompanying meme), enterprises need developers. These three specific and hot developer positions represent the trend Dice see as the closer to the application, the stronger the job market.

Data Analyst/Analytics

Data shows its increasing role as the oil in the enterprise machine, as number crunchers rank fourth in Dices career assessment, the first time it has ever appeared on the firms annual list of top jobs. Specifically, anything pertaining to unstructured or big data capabilities is in demand, as Dice reports advanced analytics position postings on its site have tripled year-over-year.

Software Developers

A bit more general than the other developer positions at the top of the career forecast, software developers have also slipped to fifth hottest IT job from its no. 2 ranking in 2012. Still, software developer skills maintain healthy interest from hiring managers.

Mainframes

On the flip side of trendy jobs, mainframe programming is less of a priority in the past, according to a recent Dice survey of 1,100 tech-focused hiring professionals. The firm attributes some of the low priority found presently for mainframe positions to the attention seen elsewhere for Web and mobile developers. However, mainframes remain indispensable to many enterprises, particularly in the government sector, and more mainframe positions may be ahead as this generation nears retirement.

Support Tech and Entry-Level

Computer support specialists hovered around 6-percent unemployment, the highest rate for an identified field by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As far as entry-level specialists, everyone has to start somewhere, though Dice said the low priority for first-rung talent reflects enterprise need for core attributes like passion, creativity and self-motivation, [and] a bachelors degree and more than a passing familiarity with advanced skills.

Administrative

Although administrative careers ranked lowest on the IT hiring priority list, Dice explains it this way: While hiring pros say finding the sets of helping hands to work behind the scenes ranks as their lowest priority entering 2013, that doesnt mean the hiring criteria isnt demanding  everything from Lotus Notes to Excel to SAP invoice-processing skills. Just because becoming a PowerPoint power user is easier to do than developing the next PowerPoint program, doesnt mean these cogs in the machine arent vital.